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Mr. Epeli Nasome, Director, Fiji Environment Department

"Waste generated in villages are not obligated for collection by the Rural Local Authorities. According to the Public Health Act it is outside their areas of responsibility." Epeli Nasome

Epeli Nasome tells us how the Fiji IWP is contributing to national efforts to improve waste management, particularly in Fiji’s rural areas.

Epeli originally joined the Department of Town and Country Planning as a Technical Assistant in 1973. He became Senior Town Planner in 1990 before joining the Environment Management Unit (EMU) as a Senior Environment Officer. In 1993 he became a Principal Environment Officer when the EMU became the Department of Environment. Epeli was appointed as the acting Director of Environment in 1995 and confirmed in this position in 1997. When he’s not faced with the demands of running the Department he likes to relax and maintain a clear and healthy mind by going free walking and jogging as much as he can.

1. How is waste currently managed in Fiji?

The legislation that regulates how waste should be collected and transported to appropriate waste disposal sites is covered by the Public Health Act and the Local Government Act. The Public Health Act provides for collection and disposal of waste in rural areas by the Ministry of Health through its Central Board of Health and the Rural Local Authorities. The Local Government Act provides for the collection of waste in urban areas by the Towns and Cities Municipal Councils. The Litter Decree of 1989 focuses on controlling littering in public places.

Under the Local Government Act and Public Health Act the Health Inspectors of the Municipal Councils and Rural Local Authorities are given powers to be responsible for waste collection and disposal. They issue notices of warning for any littering or dumping of rubbish in public areas. If the warnings are not adhered to then fines are placed on the offenders.

For the Municipal Councils and the Rural Local Authorities the waste management system is funded from the collections of fines. For the Department of Environment annual budget allocations are specified for waste management related operations. Funding from donors is also provided for Government organisations to manage specific waste management projects.

2. How is Fiji’s waste currently disposed of?

Currently all of Fiji’s solid waste is being disposed at rubbish dumpsites. The Lami dumpsite located just outside Suva being the largest, probably in the South Pacific, and very saturated. This serves the towns of Nausori, Nasinu and Lami, and the City of Suva.

The Lami dumpsite will be closed and rehabilitated when the Naboro Landfill opens for operation hopefully in 2005. The first regional landfill site at Naboro, about 13 kilometres outside Suva along the Suva-Nadi Highway, was completed in September 2004. The operations for accepting waste and disposing them at allocated areas within the landfill will begin in 2005. It is not yet in operation due to the delay in the formation of a company to manage and operate it.

In the western division of Viti Levu with the towns of Sigatoka, Nadi, Ba, Rakiraki, Tavua, and the City of Lautoka, a regional landfill is currently being explored.

The outlying small islands of Fiji have their own rubbish dumpsites. Waste generated in villages are not obligated for collection by the Rural Local Authorities. According to the Public Health Act it is outside their areas of responsibility. However, arrangements have been made for waste collection services to be undertaken from some villages with financial arrangements on the part of the villagers.

3. Are there any plans for the remediation of Fiji’s dumpsites?

There is a remediation or rehabilitation plan for the Lami dumpsite that will be implemented once it is closed when the Naboro landfill opens. Regarding other existing dumpsites, the Town Councils and Rural Local Authorities are attempting to put in place waste management practices to minimise adverse environmental effects such as water, ground and air pollution, and unsightliness. These practices include soil cover, demarcation of disposal spots of different types of waste. An ongoing attempt is the relocation of dumpsites away from coastal and mangrove areas once suitable land is found inland.

4. Can you explain how the Fiji IWP is trying to help improve the management of solid and liquid waste in Fiji’s rural communities?

The Fiji IWP has succeeded in identifying solid and liquid waste problems in Fiji’s rural communities by developing a greater understanding of the lifestyles of the villagers in the pilot communities of Vunisinu and Nalase. By concentrating our limited resources on this small area our officers have been able to develop a greater understanding of the problems we need to address.

After constant visits to the villages and sitting and talking with the villagers the villagers have also gained ownership of the project. The villagers became confident in opening up to the officers about their ways of daily living. This understanding of village life made it easier for the IWP Fiji to focus on practical solutions that the community can use to improve the management of its waste.

The river is used by the villagers for washing, swimming and fishing. Most pigpens are built over the banks of an adjacent river. The best ways to contain and reuse the pig wastes are still being explored. The focus has been on the use of sawdust to mix with the pig waste then use as manure. A compost toilet has also been built to demonstrate how human waste can be contained and converted to manure.

5. How does the Fiji IWP relate to Fiji’s proposed National Solid Waste Strategy?

The comprehensive coverage of waste concerns by IWP Fiji in these rural pilot sites will contribute greatly to Fiji’s proposed National Solid Waste Management Strategy which also covers rural areas.

6. Are there any recycling services in Fiji?

There are recycling services whereby various types of recyclable waste are collected, cleaned, packed into containers, and shipped to recycling companies overseas mainly in Australia. The recyclable waste include newspapers, office papers, cardboards, aluminium cans, PET bottles, scrap metals, discarded vehicle body-parts and large machineries, computer printer ink containers, etc.

7. Do any composting services exist in Fiji?

There are no national or industrial or commercial composting services existing in Fiji. However what does exist are piecemeal composting projects and backyard composting of households. The minimisation of waste that would be disposed at the Naboro landfill will involve the services of collection of recyclable, reusable, and compostable wastes. There would be facilities for undertaking these services provided at the Naboro landfill and the Transfer Stations.

8. Does Fiji have any public awareness and education programmes designed to help the public and business reduce waste or improve waste management

We want to raise awareness with the public before we begin operations at the Naboro Landfill. The activities that we want to familiarize with the public are waste reduction, recycling and composting. We want to ensure that the public is given every assistance to minimize the amount of waste that is being sent to this new landfill. By removing organics and recyclable material we hope to extend the life of this asset for as long as we can.

In 2004 a public awareness programme was developed focusing on the 3Rs, i.e. reduce, reuse, recycle. The aim was to minimise the amount of waste that is to be disposed at the Naboro landfill. The medium for conveying the message across to the public included: brochures; posters; TV and radio spots.

The assessment of the programme involved interviews of people on the streets and distribution of questionnaires. There was some success but the limited funding available for this awareness component was a constraining factor. Our challenge is to keep trying to find effective ways to help our urban and rural communities to reduce the amount of waste that is impacting on their environments and their health.